1:30 a.m. in northern California and my dog decides he needs to wake me up to go outside. I get up and find his leash, put it on him and we step out onto the drive. It’s a clear, cold, moonless night. I let the dog do his business and I look up. What I see is stunning.
It’s a small meteor shower and beautiful! I look around at a star-lit sky and pick out some of the constellations I know: the Big and Little Dipper, Coma Bernice, Orion, the Swan, Draco. I remind myself I need to look up their meanings again.
8:00 p.m. in Pilanesburg Game Reserve, South Africa: I look out beyond the steaks cooking on the grill, to see Scorpio and the Southern Cross—totally different constellations, and just as stunning. I smile because I understand.
I used to wonder how people long ago or people living in isolated cultures would be able to hear about God and Jesus if there wasn’t anyone around to teach them. I thought maybe God was being a little unfair if people didn’t have the opportunity to read a Bible, and it really bothered me. Then one day someone taught me that God’s story of life and Jesus was all written in the stars. All anyone needed to do was look up!
God’s plans, purposes, and promises were written in the sky before they were spoken by man or written down. Psalm 147:4 says: “He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.” And every name has a spiritual significance and is found in the scriptures.
Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylonia taught people how to read and interpret the stars. That’s how the Magi knew to go to Bethlehem to find Jesus. They were taught how to read the heavens from their ancestors.
The names for the constellations, the numbering of the stars within them and the names of the individual stars had the same meaning across all the ancient cultures. The Chinese, Chaldean and Egyptian recordings go back more than 2000 years B.C. The fact that they named the same stars for the same constellation pictures is pretty amazing considering that several of the constellations don’t even look like what they’re called.
There are twelve zodiac signs. Between each zodiac sign, there may be several smaller constellations. Each constellation tells a part of the story of God's plan. For example, Virgo (the virgin) is a woman holding a branch in her right hand. The brightest star in Virgo in Arabic is Al Zimach, meaning “the branch.” The word “branch” is used in the Bible to denote the Messiah. Zechariah prophesied: “Behold I will bring forth my servant the branch” (Zech 3:8). And, “Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is the branch” (Zech 6:12).
Another star in Virgo is Zavijaveh, which means “the gloriously beautiful,” as in Isaiah 4:2: “In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious.” The star in the arm that bears the branch is named Al Mureddin, which means “who shall come down and shall have dominion.” When the ancients looked up at Virgo, they understood that there was a promised branch of God who would be born of a virgin and come down to earth and have dominion.
The Zodiac that the Egyptians recorded on the ceiling of the Temple of Esneh is drawn in a circle. One wouldn’t necessarily know where to begin and where to end. The figure of a sphinx connects the two signs of Virgo and Leo. The word “sphinx” means to bind closely together. The sphinx has the head of a woman and the body of a lion, as God’s story of His son’s birth on earth begins with a virgin and ends with him being the King of Kings, represented by the lion.
Every constellation seen by man has a story to tell of God’s love and His wonderful plan for us. Before the written Word, people all over the world in all different cultures could read God’s Word in the stars above. This skill has been pretty much lost, but not entirely wiped out. No man can change the stars and the true meanings have been recorded and guarded.
Psalm 19:1-6 says: “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.”
Love, Carolyn
P.S. If you’re interested in this subject, E.W. Bullinger’s book, The Witness of The Stars is awesome. He shows pictures of each constellation and has detailed write-ups on each one with their Biblical meanings. You’ll love it.
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